ET deals: $999 gets you a Dell XPS 14 ultrabook and $200 gift card

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The market for premium PCs is one often devoid of special offers or discounts. How often do you see a Lamborghini dealership advertising an end-of-month sale during the evening news? The same usually applies to high-end laptops.

When you do see a sale on a premium PC it is a rare occurrence, making for what us deal-hunters call a very hot offer. Dell’s XPS ultrabooks are some of our favorites on the market this year, one of the few actually looking to differentiate themselves from a sea of silver slabs.

The XPS 14 starts with a larger 14-inch LCD, which offers a best-in-class 1600×900 resolution and operates at an extra-bright 400 nits. The display is covered in Gorilla Glass, a durability feature we don’t see in many PCs despite being so common in tablets and phones. The rest of the chassis is composed of machines aluminum with a silicon base, rounding out a chassis that is as tough as it is stylish.

On the inside, Dell managed to pack in an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 500GB hard drive, 32GB mSATA SSD cache, and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 1GB graphics. Despite all of this, the XPS 14 is rated at up to 11 hours of battery life and measures 0.81-inches thin.

A backlit keyboard is standard, as are 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI output, Mini DisplayPort, USB 3.0, and more. Dell includes a full year of on-site warranty service, accidental damage coverage, and 24×7 premium phone support should anything go awry.

The last time we saw a good deal on the XPS 14, it was marked down to $999.99 with free shipping. But that deal didn’t include the $200 Dell e-gift card that this one does, which gives you $200 to spend on anything from Dell. That sounds like a perfect opportunity to grab some accessories or maybe an external monitor to go with your slick new ultrabook (check out other Dell deals here for ideas). Don’t forget — Dell.com doesn’t just sell Dell products, the site carries load of other brands.

Thanks to the bonus gift card, this is the best deal we have seen on the XPS 14 all year and brings the effective price down to just $799.99 if you use the gift card.